Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Young Man and the Sea



By Rodman Philbrick

Book Report by Rio Dawson



A couple of weeks ago I finished a book called The Young Man and the Sea. I found this book light, exciting, very humorous, and hard to put down. The style of writing used here was casual and funny. The author has an effective way of writing that allows him to explain things without using many words. I really enjoyed this book and I hope to find another one like it.



Ever since twelve-year-old Skiff Beaman's mother died, things have been tough. Skiff's father spends all his time on the TV couch drinking beer and pitying himself. Their boat, the Mary Rose, needs constant attention. Skiff, out of hope that someday his dad will take him fishing, pumps out the bilge out every morning to keep her afloat. It takes a lot of effort to do so with only one pair of hands. One day she finally does sink at the dock. Her engine is destroyed and will cost thousands of dollars to replace it. When Skiff's lobster traps are mysteriously vandalized, he decides that the only way to make enough money to fix it is by catching a Bluefin Tuna by himself. Bluefin Tuna can be worth thousands of dollars each, but they require skill, knowledge, and the right equipment to catch one. Skiff is so determined that he is willing to go thirty miles out at sea, with only a little boat, a big harpoon, and an adventurous spirit.



The first thing I noticed about The Young Man and the Sea was how well it was written. The author’s strategy for explaining things is through connecting different subjects. He is excellent at describing the situation and then wrapping it up by bringing you back to the story. Another quality this book has is how it lets you in to the boy’s thoughts. The reader gets to know how Skiff thinks and how he deals with his emotions. I personally feel that Skiff is a very hard-working boy who believed in perseverance. He thinks his decisions over before seeing them through.



I think the Young Man and the Sea deserves a four-and-a-half star rating out of five. It's simple, well written, thrilling, and funny. If I could give it a texture, it would be smooth, because the book is easy to read and casual. It is well balanced; the sentences link together to form nice paragraphs. I would recommend the Young Man and the Sea to someone who enjoys light but engaging reading.

Herbal Remedies for Middle Ear Infections




Middle ear infections are highly common among children in the United States. These infections can be caused by both viruses and bacteria. Children are often more prone to ear infections, but older children and adults can get infected as well. Ear infections have a better chance of infecting people when the person is exposed to smoke, has allergies, has an upper respiratory infection, or was bottle-fed cows' milk as an infant.

Antibiotics are often used to treat ear infections, but do not always help, and cause damage to the body when used over long periods of time. Herbal remedies provide a safer, more effective alternative for the treatment of ear infections.

Echinacea's immune-stimulating properties are due to a host of polysaccharides and phytosterols. They help to activate macrophages that are directly involved in the destruction of bacteria, viruses, and other infectious agents, as well as cancer cells.

One of Goldenseal's active constituents is berberine, which possesses strong activity against a wide variety of bacteria and fungi.

Echinacea and Goldenseal, together, increases the body's production of globulins that attack both viruses and bacteria. This combination stops drainage and speeds healing. (Either one of the Echinacea species can be taken with Goldenseal.)

The Anatomy of the Ear

The ear is a very important organ which enables vertebrates to hear and maintain balance. From mice to elephants and everywhere in between, most animals are at least somewhat dependent on their ears. A deer uses its ears for signs of an approaching predator. A wolf listens for prey with the opposite intention. Even bats need their ears for ‘seeing’!


Since the ears have so many tiny, fragile parts, many things can go wrong in there. Some doctors are required to study those little parts in order to diagnose and prescribe medicine. In this essay, the anatomy of the ear and the functions of the parts will be explained.

The ear is organized into three main parts: the External Ear, the Middle Ear, and the Inner Ear. We will go in this order as we take a look at all the bones, cartilage, cavities, and nerves.

EXTERNAL EAR:

First, there is the visible portion of the external ear that we are all familiar with. It is the flap of skin and cartilage on the side of the head, scientifically called the pinna, or the auricle. The pinna helps direct/conduct sound waves into the ear canal. (Part of the reason dogs can hear better than humans is because they have such big auricles!) The pinna has anatomical terms by itself. The upper ridge of the pinna is called the helix. The antihelix is a long lump that runs parallel to the helix, and the two are separated by a furrow called the scapha. At the bottom of the auricle there hangs/dangles the earlobe, a.k.a. lobule, which is squishy because it is filled with fatty tissue. The deep depression of the pinna is called the concha. If you were to insert your index finger into your ear, it would only go as far as the concha, and would not be able to fit into the ear canal. (Do not stick anything smaller than your index finger in your ear.)

Beyond the concha there stretches the area of the ear called the ear canal, which is a narrow passage that leads away into the middle ear.

MIDDLE EAR:

The ear canal stops at the tympanic membrane, or eardrum. The eardrum marks where the external ear ends and the middle ear begins. A tool called an auroscope/auriscope is used to visually examine the tympanic membrane. A healthy tympanic membrane is shiny, taut, and tinted gray, whereas an infected eardrum is bright red, perforated, and/or has pus leaking out of it.

When sound waves reach the eardrum, it transmits vibrations over to the auditory ossicles in the tympanic cavity (the tympanic cavity is an air space within the temporal bone). The auditory ossicles are three tiny bones, commonly known as the anvil, hammer, and stirrup (Malleus, Incus, and Stapes). When the bones vibrate, the stirrup transfers sound vibrations into the inner ear through the oval window, which is firmly attached to the cochlea. The cochlea brings us to the next area of the ear.

INNER EAR:

The inner ear is where the organs of hearing and equilibrium are found. There are three main parts of the inner ear: the coiled cochlea, the bony labyrinth, and the membranous labyrinth.

The cochlea is a coiled organ which resembles a snail shell. It holds fluid that contains tiny mineral crystals. The sound vibrations that are gathered from the stirrup (through the oval window) are converted into fluid vibrations when they enter the cochlea. The fluid moves the crystals, which brush against the fibers. The fibers then turn the vibrations into impulses over a nerve into the brain. This nerve (called the vestibulocochlear nerve) also detects sensations for equilibrium.

We now conclude our ear overview by examining the bony labyrinth and the membranous labyrinth.

The sensations for equilibrium come from the bony labyrinth and the membranous labyrinth, a complex system of fluid and canals, which transmit signals to the brain concerning sensations of acceleration and gravity.